Plaid Cats: October 2008

The Cats and the pumpkins

Sandy & Roxy have to check out anything new we bring into the house. Our Halloween pumpkins were no exception. Here's Roxy coming over to check out the pumpkins.

Here is Sandy sniffing the new pumpkins too.

The Pumpkin Patch at Hodges Farm

On Sunday we went to Hodges Farm to pick out our pumpkins for Halloween. Here's a view of the pumpkin patch where you can pick your own pumpkin.

Hodges Farm also had a lot of sunflowers growing around the pumpkin patch area. Here's a picture of a patch of sunflowers too.

Hodges Farm Animals

There were a few farm animals that could be petted at Hodges Farm when we went to pick out our pumpkins. Here is a close-up of one of the sheep.

Here I am petting a baby goat.

And here's Chad petting the same baby goat.

Picking our pumpkins

Here are the pumpkins that Chad & I picked out to carve for Halloween!

Here is a cart full of tiny pumpkins at Hodges Farm.

While my Mom and Grandmother were in town they wanted to tour the new Billy Graham Library. I was very well done and overall I was very impressed with everything about the Library. Here is a picture of the Library building.

Here is Billy Graham's childhood home.

More Billy Graham Library

To tell the story of Billy Graham's life and ministry there were guided galleries that covered certain aspects or time periods in Rev. Graham's life. I thought the one below was one of the coolest ones. It depicts an appliance store window and each TV was showing video of Billy Graham speaking. Rev. Graham was the first evangelist to realize how television could reach even more people than his crusades - he has always been a pioneer and on board with using the newest technology to reach people for Christ.

I know that this is probably an unusual picture and I don't normally take pictures in public bathrooms, but the sinks in the bathrooms at the Billy Graham Library were so unique that I had to include them on the blog!

Prayer Garden

Here is a picture of me, my Grandmother and my Mom in the Prayer Garden area at the Billy Graham Library.

Below is the path that leads to Ruth Graham's gravesite.

Family Visit

My Mom and Grandmother came to visit us for a few days last week and we celebrated my Grandmother's birthday a few days early. Here's a picture of my brother, Fielding, my Mom, my Grandmother and me at our house.

Here's a picture of Fielding, my Mom & me.

Political Rant

I know that this election is definitely a hot topic and that people’s emotions are running high, but I had a pretty crazy encounter dealing with the election. At work, I’m working at a different library branch (I won’t mention it by name, but most of my friends and family know) and the patrons are very different than where I was before. A few days ago an older man stopped by the desk just to tell me that I “better not vote for Obama or he’ll come back and get me” and when I told him that he won’t know who I vote for he said “Oh, I’ll know, so you better not vote for Obama!” This was completely out of the blue, no previous conversation, I wasn’t wearing anything political or anything. Just an old man yelling about how I shouldn’t vote for Obama. Now, why was this necessary? It just irritates me to no end that people assume that if you look like them or live in the same community that you must be just like them and think like them. Sorry old man, not the case.

And while I’m complaining about the election and politics in general I’ll go ahead and vent about another issue: Christians and politics. Why do people assume that if you profess to be a Christian that you are going to vote Republican? I am a Christian and I’m not ashamed to say that in all the Presidential elections I’ve voted in so far, I’ve yet to vote for a Republican and I’m a registered Democrat. When I tell some of my Christian friends this, they are shocked. I think that Christians tend to forget that Jesus was one of the most radical and revolutionary figures of His time. I’ll even go so far as to say that Jesus was pretty liberal for His time too. I also think more Christians need to think beyond the abortion issue when they are voting. If anyone is using birth control, then you need to think hard about the slippery slope of reversing rights. I think this election is making people think more about a lot of issues – and I hope that more Christians can see past the party stereotypes and vote for who they think is the best candidate regardless of their party affiliation. I also hope that Christians can at least try to be more open-minded and not assume that the world’s going to hell if a Republican is not in office. We are supposed to believe that God is in control – and I believe He is in control whether a Democrat or a Republican is in office.